A Brief History of Weird Al’s Polka Medleys

Before Girl Talk was around to melt and splice pop and hip hop hits into dance-floor crack, there were “Weird Al” Yankovic’s polka-style megamixes. Although Al is known for his lyrical parodies, the brilliance of the polkas is that they expose current pop songs’ silliness simply by changing their genre. For over 25 years, they’ve been staples of his albums. In honor of the just-released “Polka Face” (oh yes he did) from Alpocalypse, which comes out Tuesday, we present a brief history of Weird Al’s polkas.

“Polkas on 45” (1984)

Weird Al’s first polka appeared on his second full-length, “Weird Al” in 3-D. Rather than a compilation of contemporary hits, “Polkas on 45” takes on a herd of sacred cows: It includes everything from “Hey Joe” and “My Generation” to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and “Smoke on the Water.” But perhaps the creepiest moment is when Al sings that “I’m a little girl when we make love together” part from Berlin’s “Sex (I’m A…).”